Butternut Squash and Sage Risotto

Pumpkin and crispy sage steamed risotto, served in a white pan and viewed from above. A gray cloth is wrapped around one handle of the pan and a silver spoon rests in the dish.

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Butternut Squash and Sage Risotto

Contrary to what you've always been told, you don't have to stir risotto continuously to make it creamy, silky and perfectly cooked! This steamed butternut squash risotto is dinner-party-worthy and relies on a clever make-ahead compound butter for amazing depth of flavor.

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Total Time1

Course: Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: butternut squash risotto, pumpkin risotto, risotto, steamed risotto

Servings:

Calories: 744kcal

Ingredients

For the acid butter

1 Tbsp olive oil
½ onion sliced
½ cup white wine vinegar
¼ cup dry white wine
2-3 peppercorns
1 stick unsalted butter softened

For the risotto

2 pounds butternut squash peeled, deseeded and diced into 1/2 inch (12mm) cubes
5 Tbsp olive oil divided in half
2 cups arborio rice or carnaroli
4 cups vegetable stock or chicken stock, plus extra to loosen at the end of cooking, if necessary
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
20 sage leaves fresh, whole leaves picked from the stems
2.5 oz acid butter (from preparation above, see notes)
2 oz parmesan cheese freshly grated, plus extra to serve

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make acid butter (up to 2 months ahead)

Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat and add the onion, cooking until it’s softened but not coloured.
1 Tbsp olive oil, ½ onion
Add the vinegar, wine and peppercorns and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer until it’s reduced to about 2-3 tbs in volume. This will take around 10 minutes.
½ cup white wine vinegar, ¼ cup dry white wine, 2-3 peppercorns
Strain the liquid through a sieve into the bowl of a food processor, then add the butter and process until it’s combined. Scrape the butter onto a piece of foil and shape into a log, then roll up and pinch the ends tightly. The acid butter will keep in the fridge for about a week or frozen for 2 months – this makes more than you need for one batch but it can be used for most types of risotto so it’s handy to have in the freezer.
1 stick unsalted butter

Roast the butternut squash

Preheat your oven to Combi Steam, 400°F/200°C, 30% (low) humidity. Line a baking sheet with silicone paper.
Tip the diced butternut squash onto the lined baking sheet and add half of the olive oil (2 1/2 tablespoons). Toss to coat the squash in the oil and spread it out into a single layer.
2 pounds butternut squash, 5 Tbsp olive oil
Put the squash in the oven and cook until it's tender, about 15-18 minutes. As soon as it's done, remove the squash and turn off the oven, leaving the door open to cool it down as quickly as possible (if you have a cool-down function in your oven, even better!).

Make the risotto

When it's cooled down from roasting the squash, set your oven to Steam, 212°F/100°C (100% humidity).
Put the remaining oil into a stainless steel pan or shallow cast iron casserole dish, and add the rice. Give it a good stir to coat all the grains with the oil.
5 Tbsp olive oil, 2 cups arborio rice
Add the stock, stir and put in the oven. Set the timer for 18 minutes.
4 cups vegetable stock

Fry the sage leaves

While the risotto cooks, heat a small frying pan over medium heat and add the butter. As soon as it's melted and starting to foam, toss in the sage leaves and let them fry for a minute or two until they're crispy and the butter is browned. Remove from heat immediately and tip the sage and butter into a small bowl so they don't continue cooking.
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, 20 sage leaves

Finish and serve

Taste the rice, it should be almost tender but with a little bite in the centre.
Tip the roasted squash into the risotto and gently fold it in, then return the pan to the oven for 5-6 minutes to make sure the squash has warmed through. By this time the rice should be al dente tender.
Add the acid butter (half of the batch you made) and parmesan to the risotto and stir gently but well to melt and emulsify everything. If it looks a little dry, add a few tablespoons of extra stock and stir this in to loosen. If adding extra stock I heat it first, as it keeps the temperature of the risotto consistent.
2.5 oz acid butter, 2 oz parmesan cheese
Serve the risotto immediately, scattered with extra parmesan cheese and fried sage leaves, and any leftover browned butter from the sage drizzled over the top.

Notes

Acid butter. The key to this risotto is the acid butter, a restaurant hack I learned from an Italian chef I worked with years ago in the UK. Acid butter can be prepared well ahead of time and kept in the freezer for a couple of months, and it makes the preparation of a risotto really easy but with amazing depth of flavor. With acid butter on hand, there’s no softening of onions or simmering of wine to be done at the time of cooking, so it becomes almost a set-and-forget dish in the steam oven. I'm having you make double what you need for this recipe, because it's not worth making less and then you'll have another portion up your sleeve (well, in your freezer) for next time you make risotto.
Don't have acid butter and can't be bothered making it? Dice a small onion and saute it until translucent, then add half a cup of white wine to the pan and simmer it down for a couple of minutes. Use this as the base of your risotto, stirring in the rice and oil before continuing with the recipe. I'd add a tablespoon or two of regular butter in place of the acid butter when finishing the risotto, so it still gets that silky and creamy finish.
Servings. This quantity will serve 4 enormous main meal portions or 6 regular ones. If you're making it as a first course with a main dish to come afterwards, you could stretch it to 8 portions.

Nutrition